IKNOW you’ve got soul, soul man, soul food, lemon soul (sic)? Right, now that the name-game is out of the way, we can begin.

Almost every review of Kia’s quirky new model I have read in recent weeks has begun with a pithy play on the car’s moniker. Well, not here.

I’d like to think I am above that, or is it rather that I can’t think of one that hasn’t already been used?

Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes, the Kia Soul.

Any review of this car should really start with its looks.

It’s certainly a head-turner, but while it grew on me, it is certainly not to everyone’s taste.

“I like the colour,” said my wife, referring to the sort of burned orange exterior. “But the car itself is so ugly.

I can’t see anyone liking that, let alone women.”

It has been described elsewhere as akin to a Tonka truck and I can’t think of anything more fitting. It looks as if it has been hewn out of a single block of wood, smoothed off at the edges, but a piece of wood nevertheless.

At each extremity huge alloys have been fitted to give it a kind of off-road appearance. Trust me though, this is no mud-plugger, it’s designed for urban life and would probably have a panic attack if it was taken too far out of the city limits.

The rear of the car has been designed to resemble a back-pack, with the tailgate, I presume, representing the flap on those continental-style schoolbags.

I liked the rear light clusters, which are sail-like in shape, but wasn’t so taken by the rear window, which was rather too narrow for me.

On the inside, you might expect the quirkiness to continue, but while there are some nice touches, like the shape of the dash and the audio controls, in the main it’s rather too bland.

You can personalise your Soul with any number of options to make it more distinctive, and having seen our stock test car, I might be tempted if I had a little extra cash to spare.

In the main it was a sea of black and grey plastic with, rather strangely, the only sign of colour to be found on the interior of the glove box and the dashboard cubby, which were decked out in red. The seats do have the Soul logo emblazoned on them, but again it’s grey and white on black.

Where the Soul does score highly is in interior space.

You can get four decent-sized adults in with the minimum of fuss, or three children in the rear, including car seats.

The boot isn’t the biggest but was able to accommodate a buggy and a bike with room to spare. The entry is wide, but the lip is quite deep, so could create issues on loading.

There are only two engines on offer, 1.6 litre petrol and diesel, and the latter is probably the one to go for.

Our test car came with the petrol unit and it was rather on the weedy side. It also revved very highly with the slightest touch, which wasn’t very good for the street cred.

While it was fine around town, engine noise became an issue on the open road and I wouldn’t fancy taking it on long journeys.

Because of its boxy appearance there’s also more than a hint of body roll and there’s not a great deal of grip to speak of either, which would concern me in trying conditions.

Those buying this car will do so because it stands out from the crowd, not necessarily because it does things better than its rivals.

Kia is to be congratulated for its bravery, but while it may have soul, I am afraid to say it didn’t grab my heart.

Specification

Engine: 1.6i petrol
Max power: 124bhp
Max torque: 115lb/ft
Max speed: 110mph
0-60mph: 10.4 seconds
Average fuel consumption: 43.5mpg
Equipment (includes): Alloy wheels; electronic stability programme; six-speaker RDS radio with CD player, MP3 compatibility and USB and AUX ports; steering wheel-mounted audio controls; air conditioning; electric windows; remote central locking; six airbags.